How corporate greed caused the largest loss of intelligence in human history

More than 840,000,000 IQ points evaporated from the American people due to this scandal, yet few are aware of it.

Connor MacLennan
ILLUMINATION

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The desire for wealth at the behest of others remains a serious issue to the safety of Americans. Cheap, cost-effective solutions to problems with minimal risk can sometimes be too good to be true. Photo by Brock Wegner on Unsplash

What happened?

When we think of intelligence and cognition, the last thing that comes to mind is gasoline. However, the liquid gold we use to power most of our daily activities has impacted our health much more than you may realize. A century ago, during the roaring ‘20s, something incredible was born: the self starting car. For the first time, Americans could, at the simple press of a button with their foot, travel at speeds of up to 45 miles per hour. However, once the self-starting car grew in popularity, a problem began to emerge. The engines of automobiles using high octane fuel experienced damage through a phenomenon called knocking. Knocking occurs when gasoline prematurely combusts and can contribute to vehicle issues over time.

At first, ethanol was found to be an effective solution to the problem of knocking. However, once the prohibition became widespread, the production of and use of alcohol for this purpose became expensive, difficult, and less cost-effective than alternative measures. Furthermore, ethanol could not be patented for the purpose of improving…

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Connor MacLennan
ILLUMINATION

Connor is a dual degree undergraduate student majoring in Chemical Biology at UC Berkeley. and Political Science at SFSU conducting biomedical research.